GDP

Malta's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the third quarter this year amounted to €2,536.5 million, an increase of €113 million or 4.7% when compared to the same period last year, according to provisional figures published by the National Statistics Office. In real terms, the GDP went up by 3%. In the same period, Gross Value Added (GVA) increased by €100.2 million when compared to the same quarter last year. GVA is the net result of output valued at basic prices less intermediate consumption valued at purchasers’ prices.

Timesofmalta.com Wednesday, December 7, 2016, 12:22

Gozo Channel

The
net loss of Gozo Channel has been cut down by €671,000 in the period
from January to July when compared to the same period last year. During
the same time, the fuel cost of the company has been decreased by
€50,000. Visiting the company, Gozo Minister Anton Refalo added that in
August, the company carried 543,000 passengers and 142,000 cars. The
minister also announced the launch of a new website for the company and
that as from 1 September there is free wifi on all ships of the company.

independent.com.mt Wednesday, 17 September 2014, 19:21

Gozo
Channel has recovered from a loss of €1.6 million in 2012 to a profit
of € 1,014,025 in 2015, a government statement reads. In the statement,
the government added that the Nationalist Party’s attempt to “take
credit” for the positive turnaround, was “unbelievable”. The government
credited the Gozo ministry’s decisions to introduce cheaper travelling
fees both for Maltese people and for foreigners with securing the
company’s turnaround. “The lower fees also produced a record number of
passengers that further boosted the economy of our sister island,
particularly during the shoulder months,” the statement adds. The
statement further pointed out that the company had increased its winter
schedule to make it easier for Gozitans and tourists alike to visit the
island. Quoting NSO statistics, the statement added that economic
growth in Gozo had risen from 1.8% in 2012 to 8.1% in 2014.

Maltatoday.com.mt 25 January 2016, 5:44pm

Dhul

The government noted today that according to a Eurostat survey, the average wage in Malta grew faster that the EU average during the third quarter of the year. The average wage in Malta grew by 2.1% when inflation was less than 0.4%. Wage growth in Malta covered all sectors. In the EU, the average wage during the third quarter rose by 1.4%. Wage growth in Malta was the fifth best in the EU. The biggest wage growth in Malta
was in the construction sector at 4.4%. Wages in manufacturing grew
slightly after having declined in the previous year. The governemnt said
the Eurostat statistics undermined PN arguments about downward pressure
on wages and disposable income. It also said that low inflation was a
consequence of the government's decision to reduce utility tariffs.

timesofmalta.com Wednesday, December 17, 2014, 13:05

Impjiegi

The unemployment rate in Malta is currently the lowest since 2000.
It is also the third lowest rate in Europe, the government observed today. Referring to
statistics issued by Eurostat the government said unemployment in Malta in May stood at 5.7 per cent. Only Austria and Germany had a lower rate. Malta's rate was less than half the EU
average.

Prime
Minister Joseph Muscat inaugurated the premises of the latest bank
opening its doors for business in Malta, Satabank plc. Also present for
the inauguration was Minister for Finance Edward Scicluna

DOI, Press Release Issue Date: Mar 12, 2016

M.I.A.

Malta International Airport is recording its best summer on
record, with 1.6 million passengers. More than 500,000 passengers passed each
month in July, August and September, the first time this has happened, MIA said
in a statement this afternoon.

Timesofmalta.com Thursday,
October 8, 2015, 17:58

Malta International Airport has welcomed the five millionth
passenger this year, a new milestone in its history. The passenger was Denise
Incoronato from Montana in the United States, who was given a small memento. Mrs
Incoronato arrived in Malta on a flight from Rome, together with her family,
currently on a tour of Europe.

Timesofmalta.com Tuesday,
December 20, 2016, 20:02

e-Government

The
European Commission released today the e-Government Benchmark Report
2014 that measures the delivery and performance of e-Government services
in 33 countries (the 28 European Union member states together with Iceland, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey). Malta’s performance in the 2013 benchmarking exercise has been outstanding, with Malta leading on all top-level indicators across the combined services measured.

D.O.I. PR141182, Press Release Issue Date: May 28, 2014

Vjaggar

70,196 persons made the crossing from Malta
to Gozo during the week leading up to Santa Marija, the government said
today. This represents an increase of 4,652 passengers when compared to
2012, when 65,544 people made the crossing. 17,725 vehicles boarded the
Gozo channel ferry, an increase of 1,243 when compared to the previous
year. The Gozo ferries made 242 trips across the channel in what was a
busy week for the channel.

independent.com.mt Wednesday, 21 August 2013, 12:50

The
Ministry for Gozo said today that a record 46,120 persons crossed over
to Gozo during Valentine?s weekend. A record 154 journeys were conducted
by the Gozo Channel as well, the ministry added. The ministry
highlighted that the Travel to Gozo Weekend ? Valentine Special
initiative injected around three quarters of a million euros more than
last year into Gozo?s economy.

independent.com.mt Monday, 17 February 2014, 13:06

More Maltese going abroad, staying longer

Total
outbound visitor trips in the first quarter were estimated at 81,398,
an increase of 6.7 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter
last year, the NSO said today.

timesofmalta.com Monday, May 19, 2014, 11:30

Ships ferried 7.8 per cent more passengers between Malta
and Gozo in the third quarter of this year than in the same period in
2015, new figures show. A total of 1,643,898 passengers made the trip
between the two islands during that time, with the lion's share of
travel - 582, 264 trips representing 35.4 per cent of the total -
happening in August.

Timesofmalta.com Tuesday, October 11, 2016, 11:27

Gholi tal-Hajja

Kummerc

The
removal of CVA charges has contributed to a larger turnover of
customers this Christmas, according to some business owners on Republic
Street who are being greeted by Minister for Small Business Chris
Cardona. Dr Cardona noted that at the beginning of this year the
government will issue an expression of interest for parking in Valletta.
He was accompanied by members of the Republic Street Business Community
Association, including the treasurer, Andrew Vaswani, and Labour MEP
candidate Lino Bianco. The owners told Dr Cardona that some of the shops
have been open since the beginning of the twentieth century, while one
of them has been open for more than 150 years. Sterling Jewellers
Director Alfred Fenech told timesofmalta.com that this year could be
compared to 2008, which although it was not the best year ever, it was
the best one for the past five years. It was calculated that the company
received some 40 per cent of its yearly income around Christmastime, so
December made or broke the year, he said.

timesofmalta.com Friday, December 20, 2013, 14:21

Malta
saw the second highest increase in retail trade in the EU in December,
the month characterised by Christmas shopping. Eurostat figures issued
today show that retail trade in Malta was up 2%, second only to the UK, here is was up by 2.6% from the previous month. Portugal was down 5.6%. Spain - 3.6% and Germany - 2.5%

The government has welcomed EU statistics showing that consumer sentiment in the eurozone is highest in Malta, for the 11th successive month. The consumer sentiment index in Malta
reached 118, 18% higher than the eurozone average. The government noted
that Maltese respondents were optimistic about every sector of the
economy, with the retail and construction sectors recording the highest
levels since the survey started being held. Operators in Maltese
financial services showed the highest level of optimism throughout the
eurozone.

Timesofmalta.com Wednesday, April 29, 2015, 18:19

A total 80% of family businesses in Malta
reported an increased turnover over the past 12 months, according to
the eighth edition of the Family Business Survey held by PwC. The
results were published during the Family Business Forum organised by PwC
and BOV, during which the ramifications of the newly published Family
Business Act on these businesses was explained by Economy Minister Chris
Cardona.

Timesofmalta.com Friday, November 18, 2016, 14:56

Ekonomija

Fitch Ratings affirmed Malta’s long-term foreign and local
currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘A’. The outlooks are stable. The issue
ratings on Malta’s unsecured foreign and local
currency bonds were also affirmed at ‘A’. The agency affirmed Malta’s short-term foreign-currency IDR
at ‘F1’ and the country ceiling at ‘AAA’. In its report, Fitch noted that GDP
growth in Malta was outperforming the eurozone
average.

Several German companies are
considering Malta as a location for their expansion
plans. They are keen to visit the country to explore its business environment
as a result of meetings held with Malta Enterprise representatives during major
business events, ME said in a statement this morning.

timesofmalta.com Tuesday,
May 7, 2013,
10:00

State-owned China Power Investments
is to inject millions of euros into cash -strapped Enemalta and become a
minority shareholder. A memorandum of understanding signed today between Malta and China provides for the Chinese energy
firm to inject 'tens of millions' into Enemalta, which has a debt of €800
million. Reliable sources close to the Maltese Government told timesomalta.com
that around €200 million will go to reduce the corporation's debt. The
announcement was made today following a meeting between Prime Minister Joseph
Muscat and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang in the Chinese city of Dalian, which is hosting the Annual
Meeting of World Champions organized by the World Economic Forum.

timesofmalta.com Wednesday,
September 11, 2013, 07:43

Four investors have expressed
interest in developing a marine hatchery at Fort San Luċjan, limits of
Marsaxlokk, the Parliamentary Secretariat for Fisheries said. Over the next
days a board will be set up to evaluate the proposals put forward by the four companies,
both local and foreign. This public-private partnership will mean a €7 million
investment that will include the design, construction and operation of the
hatchery. It will also include the setting up of a new research centre.

timesofmalta.com Friday,
September 6, 2013, 00:01

Twenty-one proposals for land
reclamation have been made to the government following a call for expressions
of interest. A board set up by the government to evaluate the proposals said
that the proposals were made by 17 companies, local and foreign. Some were
joint ventures. The initial evaluation will focus on the innovative aspect of
the proposals and environmental, social and financial viability. The proposals
cover various areas including the area near the former Jerma Hotel, the area of
Bahar ic-Caghaq and the inner Grand Harbour. The suggested projects include a
race track, sports facilities, a marina village, boutique hotels, new bays and
green areas, a business centre and a floating village. Some of the projects
would be offshore. An exhibition of the projects will be held by the
government, although the government is not bound to accept any of them.

timesofmalta.com Wednesday,
December 18, 2013, 19:49

Three gaming companies will either
expand or start their business in Malta this month, the Secretariat for
Competitiveness and Economic Growth said. Sportingbet will be transferring its
regulatory regime from Alderney to Malta following the closure of its
Channel Islands-based operations. Sportingbet has been present in Malta for the past few months and
currently employs 29 workers. Streamlogue Operations Ltd will start full
operation in the second half of January, operating live casino studio
facilities in Ħandaq. It currently employs 53 workers and intends to expand and
employ more.Evolution Gaming Malta Ltd, which currently employs 10 workers,
will also be expanding and will employ a total of 130, rising further by the
end of the year.The company is an expansion of the Live Casino in Riga, Latvia
and is planning to have a Malta-based live casino platform.

The Malta Enterprise has approved a
record number of 132 industrial investment projects last year said Minister for
Economic Affairs Chris Cardona this morning, in projects which total to an
investment of €166 million. The projects will create over 2,600 jobs over three
years, said Dr Cardona. He said that the new projects include 36 new overseas
investments, the highest annual number since 2006. Another 15 projects are
expansions of foreign companies already in Malta. The investments come from the UK, Germany and Italy, followed by Spain and include aviation maintenance,
electronics, furniture, ICT, digital gaming and pharmaceuticals. Local
investors came forward with 50 new projects and 31 expansions of which 70 were
in manufacturing industry.

di-ve news 22 | 02 | 2014 at 15:24

Gozo Minister Anton Refalo this
evening welcomed a decision by RS2 Software Plc to invest €1 million in a
branch in Gozo. Speaking at a discussion meeting, the minister said the firm
expected to employ 50 over three years and a maximum of 100 workers by 2020.

timesofmalta.com Wednesday,
March 5, 2014,
19:54

German's IBG Automation GmbH is to
start operating in Malta in the coming weeks, Economic
Affairs Minister Chris Cardona said. IBG is part of Goeke Technology Group and
specializes in the development and production of automation systems for various
industries with BMW among it's main customers. Its project was approved by
Malta Enterprise last year. The Malta plant will be involved in design,
development and manufacturing services starting with small sized projects that
involve light weight parts and robots.

Prime
Minister Joseph Muscat inaugurated The Bakery new premises which saw Maypole
investing nearly eight million Euros for the project which now employs 230
persons.

DOI, Press
Release Issue Date: Jun 01, 2015

Chinese telecommunications giant
Huawei has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Maltese government
research and develop technologies in the country. The MoU includes a commitment
by Huawei to start testing 5G; which is over twice as fast as 3G and makes
connectivity systems easier. The understanding also implies that the company
will help the country develop its digital Malta strategy. The strategy includes a nationwide
fibre-to-home project and fibre wire connectivity to other countries aside from
Sicily.

Maltatoday.com.mt 14
July 2015, 3:16pm

The government has signed a
memorandum of understanding with Ablecare Oilfield Services to turn Marsa
Shipbuilding into an oil and gas logistics centre. Ablecare had been announced
preferred bidder at the beginning of the year following an international call
for expressions of interest. Since then, the project has had to be assessed by
various ministries and entities ranging from Transport Malta to the Malta Environment and
Planning Authority. Other operators using the site on encroachment also had to
be evicted before the MOU could be signed. Ablecare has already invested
€500,000 on dredging tests to ensure that the site can be used for its planned
purposes. Negotiations will now start on the conditions of the concession and
once this has been given parliamentary approval, work will be able to start
immediately. The company is expected to invest €55 million in the project.

Timesofmalta.com Friday,
September 25, 2015, 12:10

Minister for Finance, Prof. Edward
Scicluna, visited the newly-licensed MFC Merchant Bank, the result of a €91
million investment by Canadian MFC Industrial Ltd, through the acquisition of
Bawag Malta Bank Ltd.

DOI, Press Release Issue Date: Feb
05, 2016

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat
yesterday attended the inauguration of the Satabank p.l.c offices, a new bank
which plans to expand its workforce fivefold within the next two years.
"The inauguration of the offices of Satabank p.l.c. is a statement of the
Bank’s intentions to be in Malta and to grow its operations even
further in the coming months. Today
Satabank employs around 20 people to service its operations in Malta and its strategy is to have in
excess of 100 employees in 24 months’ time.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat
announced a €33-million investment generating 132 new jobs within the Safi Aviation Park. Dr Muscat was visiting ongoing
works for the development of the Aviation Cluster in Malta, including the
building of 3 new hangars by Malta Industrial Parks, the construction of a
hangar for the repainting of commercial narrow body and wide body aircraft, the
building of a new hangar by Medavia to be leased temporarily to SRT, and the
business expansion of SRT.

DOI Press Release Issue Date: Apr
20, 2016

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this
evening launched a new yacht marina bearing the name of Marina di Valletta, at
Sa Maison with an investment of €7.5 million. Dr Muscat said that the maritime
sector remains one of the most important for the country, despite the economic
challenges in the region. "What we are launching today is a clear vision
to create new sectors in the industry and in the market as a whole."

Independent.com.mt Monday,
8 August 2016,
19:48

VistaJet has announced a further
€100 million investment in Malta’s aviation industry with the
purchase of three new luxury jets, all of which arrived in Malta on Friday. The acquisition has seen
the company’s fleet increase to a total of 70 private aircraft, 60 of which are
registered in Malta, while the rest are split between
locations in the United States and China.

Independent.com.mt Sunday,
2 October 2016, 10:00

Virtu Ferries invests €75 million to
build a high-speed wave-piercer catamaran in a bid to improve the Malta-Sicily
route.

Maltatoday.com.mt 7
October 2016,
9:41am

Malta Enterprise has approved €663
million in direct foreign and local investment during the last 12 months,
Economy Minister Chris Cardona told Parliament this evening. The investment was
a record figure and would create 2,000 new jobs within three years, he added.
The minister told parliament Malta Enterprise had also allocated more than
6,000 square metres to 27 companies in the Life Sciences Park while, at the
same time, strengthening and launching new business schemes. Xewkija Industrial Estate was being expanded
thanks to a €16 million investment and 25 enterprises would create 150 new jobs
there, he said. Dr Cardona said that the former Dowty factory at Mrieħel had
been pulled down and a food manufacturing centre would be built instead. The
Crane Currency investment would not only offer alternative jobs to former De La
Rue employees but also open up new careers in the printing industry.

Timesofmalta.com Tuesday,
November 1, 2016, 21:32

Nylon Knitting has announced a €6
million investment in plant and machinery. The announcement was made when Prime
Minister Joseph Muscat toured the factory in Qormi this morning. Nylon Knitting
was set up in 1968 and is a division of the Sitip Group. It has seen a
turn-around in its fortunes after running into difficulties three years ago. In
an address Dr Muscat said the government was committed to continue supporting
such firms.

Timesofmalta.com Wednesday,
December 7, 2016, 14:27

Malta
has the highest share of high-growth enterprises from across the EU in
2014, according to Eurostat figures released today. The figures show
that 13.7 per cent of enterprises in Malta
were high-growth. Eurostat defines a high-growth enterprise as one
which increases its number of employees by more than 10. Eurostat
defines a high-growth enterprise as one which increases its number of
employees by more than 10 per cent per year over a three-year period.
Only companies with at least 10 employees at the start of the growth
period are taken into consideration. The second highest figure was in
the United Kingdom (12.9 per cent) followed by Latvia (12.8 per cent), Ireland (12.6 per cent), Sweden (12.3 per cent) and Hungary (12.1 per cent). Such enterprises amounted to less than three per cent in Romania (2.3 per cent) and Cyprus (2.2 per cent).

Malta has featured first in a list of 25
"travel secrets" published in Lonely Planet Magazine's fall 2016
issue. The two-page magazine article describes Valletta as "among Europe's most beautiful capitals" and
highlights Gozo as being "home to some of EUrope's best scuba diving." Malta features first in the magazine's
'25 Travel Secrets' cover story. Malta features first in the magazine's
'25 Travel Secrets' cover story. Malta's feature was written by Abigail
Blasi, who also authored Lonely Planet's guide to Malta and Gozo. Malta Tourism Authority CEO Paul Bugeja was
delighted with the coverage, saying that a two-page advert in the magazine
would have cost €130,500. Lonely Planet Magazine, which is designed exclusively
with North American readers in mind, has a readership of 1.35 million. It is
published every quarter. Lonely Planet is the world's largest travel guide book
publisher, having sold more than 120 million books and 11 million copies of its
travel apps. It is owned by NC2 Media.

Timesofmalta.com Monday,
September 12, 2016, 11:44

Turizmu

Record
tourist numbers in 2013 saw Maltese hotels record the highest occupancy
levels registered in the past five years, according to a survey carried
out on behalf of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association.

independent.com.mt Tuesday, 18 March 2014, 16:08

Cruise
passenger traffic in the first quarter amounted to 38,138, an increase
of 68.4 per cent over the same period last year, the National Statistics
Office said.

timesofmalta.com Tuesday, April 22, 2014, 11:24

Valletta
Harbour has been chosen as the home port for the brand new Mein Scheiff
3 cruise ship, which has started a season of Mediterranean cruises.

timesofmalta.com Sunday, June 29, 2014, 17:43

The
first half of the year has been a positive one for hotels, with all
categories recording higher room occupancies and profits when compared
to 2013, according to a survey commissioned by the Malta Hotels and
Restaurants Association.

independent.com.mt Wednesday, 17 September
2014, 16:18

Sahha

Vetturi

The
stock of licensed motor vehicles at the end of March stood at 325,158,
an increase of 0.7 per cent over the previous quarter. The National
Statistics Office said that 79.3 per cent were passenger cars, 14.3 per
cent were commercial vehicles, 5.3 per cent were motorcycles, and buses
and minibuses accounted for less than one per cent. New licences issued
during the period under review amounted to 4,401. The majority of new
licences (3,615 or 82.1 per cent of the total) were issued to passenger
cars, followed by goods-carrying vehicles, with 410. There were 1,783
newly-licensed ‘new’ motor - 40.5 per cent of the total - and 2,618
newly licensed ‘used’ motor vehicles. In the first quarter, 50 vehicles
were exported, 2,107 garaged and 967 scrapped. A total 60.7 per cent of
cars at the end of March had petrol engines.

timesofmalta.com Tuesday, May 6, 2014, 11:21

LGBTI

Malta
has made vast improvement in terms of LGBTi rights, scoring an
additional 22 percentage points over the previous year’s score of thirty
five per cent, a survey carried out by the International Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) earlier this month, has
found.

independent.com.mt Tuesday, 27 May 2014, 11:27

Historic leap in equality as Malta rises to third place in ILGA ranking

Malta Gay Rights Movement coordinator, Gabi Calleja: "That Malta
is now at the forefront of the struggle for LGBTIQ equality is
something that encourages us to continue in our advocacy efforts"

Maltatoday.com.mt 10 May 2015, 8:21pm

For the first time Malta
reached the top place on what is known as the Rainbow Map, which is a
classification of countries according to the rights enjoyed by the
LGBTIQ community. Malta occupied the third place among the 49 nations listed in the classification, but moved up two places above Belgium and the United Kingdom since the last list was published four months ago, the government said in a statement.

Independent.com.mt Monday, 5 October 2015, 16:51

Industrija

Kriminalita

The
rate of vandalism reports in Swieqi over the summer period was much
lower when compared to the same period of 2012 and 2013, according to
Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia. It turns out that a total 230
reports of all sorts were filed in 2013, 333 in 2013 and 187 in 2014. A
total of 750 crimes took place between March 2012 and August 2014. 232
damage (most likely vandalism) reports were filed while 343 theft
offences were registered in the area during the same above mentioned
period. Theft offences turn out to be the highest of the lot.

independent.com.mt Friday, 24 October 2014, 10:40

Mobile
phone theft has plummeted this year, with a police crackdown ostensibly
yielding results. A detailed breakdown of mobile phone theft across the
island, provided by the police, shows that while an average 2,500
mobile phones were reported stolen every year between 2012 and 2015,
fewer than 600 phones have been pilfered so far this year. A Paceville
police officer, who spoke to this newspaper on condition of anonymity,
said increased police presence and regular rounds by officers in the
crime-prone district were proving to be an effective deterrent.

Timesofmalta.com Sunday, November 6, 2016, 19:51

L-Ambjent

In the run up to celebrating its status as European Capital of Culture, Valletta
is experiencing an exciting regeneration. Public monuments have been
restored, new residents are renovating vacant buildings, and private
investment is ensuring the capital is an attractive cultural and
entertainment destination. After years of neglect, this is a breath of
fresh air for the capital.

Editorjal, The Times 18.6.2016

Malta
has scored highly in the latest EU bathing waters quality report,
issued today. The European Commission and all bathing sites in Malta were of excellent quality and Malta tops its list of bathing water quality.

Timesofmalta.com Wednesday, May 20, 2015, 11:57

Xoghol

Kompetittivita'

It is not without good reason either
if it brags about the improvement made in rankings in the latest World Economic
Forum competitiveness index. The new placing, 40th out of 138 countries, is
quite creditable. It is good news not just for the party in government but also
for Malta. It means the country has advanced
eight places.

Kuntentizza

Qorti

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici this
afternoon hailed the reduction in the number of pending civil court cases to
the lowest ever levels since statistics started being gathered, saying this
achievement was also being recognised by foreign institutions like the European
Commission and the International Monetary Fund. He noted that this development
was also important from an economic aspect, as delays in court litigation could
put off investors.

Timesofmalta.com Wednesday,
February 22, 2017, 15:33

The Justice Ministry has welcomed
data showing a further reduction in the number of pending court cases. Results
for the first six months of the year show substantial progress in both civil
and criminal cases, it said. With regard to civil cases, the number of cases
decided when compared to the number of incoming cases remained consistent above
100%. “This means that more cases are being decided, than initiated. The number
of pending cases has decreased to 9,364, which is the smallest number of
pending cases in history. This represents a decrease of 11% in the number of
pending cases between June 2015 and June 2017.” The Administrative Review
Tribunal saw an increase in the clearance rate from 135% in 2016, to 211% in
2017. As for criminal cases, positive results were achieved both in the courts
of first instance as well as in the appellate courts, the ministry said,
without giving details. In the magistrates’ court, before which 95% of cases
are presented, more cases were decided than the incoming number of cases. In
the Criminal Court, the number of pending trials by jury has been reduced from
80 to 60 in two years. The inferior appellate courts decided almost the same
number of cases as the number of new ones.

Timesofmalta.com Thursday,
August 3, 2017, 16:41

Deficit

The government highlighted that the
latest public finance figures showed that the deficit in the consolidated fund
in the first five months of 2015 was the lowest registered in the past 15
years. Data released by the National Statistics Office show that the deficit
declined by €120 million - a 50% drop - when compared to the corresponding
period in 2014, and was also half the deficit registered in the first five
months of 2013.

Independent.com.mt Saturday,
27 June 2015,
16:30

Malta's trade deficit was €90.5 million
lower in July of this year than it was 12 months before that, new figures
released by the National Statistics Office show. Preliminary figures show that
the country's trade deficit stood at €149.4 million in July, when compared to
€239.9 million in the corresponding month of 2015.

Timesofmalta.com Friday,
September 9, 2016, 11:42

Government’s Consolidated Fund
registered a deficit of €104.9 million between January and October, three times
lower than it was in the last full year of the previous administration, the
government said.

Timesofmalta.com Friday,
November 25, 2016, 13:03

Government’s Consolidated Fund
registered a surplus of €8.9 million last year, the first surplus registered since
1981. Addressing a news conference, Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said the
government expected this surplus to grow not reduce when accrual accounts were
presented. Finance Minister Edward Scicluna addressing the news
conference.Finance Minister Edward Scicluna addressing the news conference. "From
a deficit of €362m in 2012 this government turned things around registering a
surplus of €8.8m in four years. We broke the cycle of borrowing to finance
annual deficits." Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he was proud of his
economic team, Prof. Scicluna and the government as a whole.